Ingushetia: local resident, who left Russia after allegations of torture by power agents, announced into search

Lyubov Tankieva, a resident of the city of Malgobek (Ingushetia), has addressed human rights defenders on the fact that her son Tamerlan Tankiev was put on the federal wanted list for his involvement in the crimes committed in the territory of Ingushetia. His photo among those searched appeared on the official website of Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ingushetia.

Let us remind you that on November 13, 2008, brothers Magomed and Timur Tsokiev, together with their cousins Ibragim Aushev and Tamerlan Tankiev, were detained in their house by militiamen from the Malgobek ROVD (District Interior Division) and employees of the Russian power structures. In the building of the ROVD, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., the four detainees, according to their own story, were severely tortured, beaten and humiliated. After the personal intervention of President Yunus-Bek Evkurov, the torture was stopped, and all the charges dropped.

On November 18, 2008, the Investigatory Division for the city of Malgobek of the Investigatory Department for Ingushetia of the Russian ICPO instituted criminal proceedings under point "a", part 3, Article 286 (abuse of power with application of violence), of the Criminal Code against the law enforcement officers, who had beaten the detainees in the offices of the criminal investigatory division of the Malgobek ROVD. The militiamen-culprits have not been identified yet.

A criminal case against Tankiev was not initiated. After his release, for several days he was treated in hospital. On the day of Tankiev's release from custody, on November 19, 2008, unknown persons set his house on fire. On the same day, unidentified persons opened automatic fire on the household of Magomed Tsokiev, and in February 2009 a grenade was thrown into his yard.

In spring 2009, Tamerlan Tankiev, on the insistence of his relatives, who feared his repeated detention, left Russia. Since then, he never returned home, and maintained communication with his family over the phone.

The fact that Tamerlan Tankiev was announced into search was a big surprise for his mother. As reported in the statement of the Human Rights Centre (HRC) "Memorial", which was sent to the editorial board of the "Caucasian Knot", the woman asked for help in protecting her son's rights, who, in her opinion, was wrongly suspected of crimes.

In early December this year, a similar application was submitted to the HRC "Memorial" by another resident of Malgobek - Abukar Tsizdoev. His nephew Usman Tsizdoev and his brother Idris Tsizdoev, who was kidnapped by unidentified assailants in May 2009, were announced into search. After Abukar Tsizdoev's address for explanations to the MIA of Ingushetia, Usman was removed from search, while the photo of Idris is still posted on the MIA's website in the section "Persons wanted on suspicion of committing crimes".